Knowledge & Innovation Counsel

About this role

Build your big career with the firm that does Big Law, Better . McDermott Will & Schulte is a leading global law firm that brings together more than 1,700+ lawyers and 1,400 business professionals. We celebrate excellence, collaboration, and community and have been recognized as a top workplace by USA Today, Fortune , The American Lawyer, Vault and others. We are also certified by Great Place to Work. 

At McDermott, we don’t just invest in your future, we accelerate your career – wherever it may lead. That includes supporting you both in and outside of the office. 

With us, you’ll find:   • A firm where everyone belongs: Our award-winning culture prioritizes warmth and authenticity — we encourage you to be yourself!  

• Enthusiasm for all perspectives: We’re smarter and stronger when everyone has a voice and a seat at the table. We welcome unique viewpoints and ideas, and we make opportunities for you and your career to thrive.  

• Support to feel your best and do your best: Wellness is integral to building a successful career and a rich life. That’s why our benefits program supports your physical, emotional, mental, and financial health, with an emphasis on work-life balance.  

   • Real rewards for real work: We offer generous compensation packages that recognize hard work and excellence.   

Job Description:

Position Summary:

The Knowledge & Innovation Counsel (KIC) plays a key role in advancing the firm’s use of AI and legal technologies by combining knowledge management, solution development, user enablement, and hands-on support to drive meaningful adoption and measurable impact across practice groups. This is a substantive, practice-embedded role built for a modern model of knowledge management in the age of AI. The KIC serves as the primary point of contact for one or more assigned practice groups on all things knowledge and AI, setting the strategic direction for AI and knowledge initiatives within those groups, curating practice expertise so that AI can put it to work, partnering with the firm’s Applied AI team to develop and customize practice solutions, guiding attorneys to the tools and technology solutions best suited to a given task across the lifecycle of a matter, supporting substantive and technical training that builds real comfort and fluency with AI, driving innovation and AI adoption within the assigned practice group(s), and representing the Innovation function to practice group leadership and other senior firm stakeholders.

This position operates independently and leverages substantial legal and technical experience, sound judgment, and strong relationship-building skills to shape, execute, and scale AI-enabled solutions across the firm.

The Firm is looking to hire a KIC to support each of the following practices: - IP - Regulatory (including AT and DP&C) - Private Client & Tax - Business Restructuring - Energy - Real Estate - Financial Institutions

Essential Functions and Responsibilities: • Serve as the primary point of contact and face of the Innovation function within one or more assigned practice groups, building strong working relationships with attorneys to understand their workflows, substantive needs, and knowledge gaps. • Serve as a go-to resource for associates seeking guidance or the knowledge that expertise produces, providing access to relevant knowledge assets and practice solutions in the course of their day-to-day work. • Collaborate with attorneys, clients, and cross-functional teams to identify high-value use cases and contribute to the design and deployment of AI and technology solutions that enhance legal service delivery. • Guide attorneys on which AI tools and technology solutions are best suited to different stages and tasks across the lifecycle of a matter, drawing on familiarity with the firm’s general AI platforms (e.g., Harvey, Claude, ChatGPT, CoCounsel, and Copilot) as well as practice-specific point solutions. • Make customizations to prompts and workflows that make AI genuinely useful in the group’s day-to-day work, and translate practice group needs into clear requirements for the Applied AI team when a fully custom or agentic build is warranted. • Contribute meaningfully to both substantive legal training and training on AI tools for the practice group, leading group and one-on-one sessions and proactively identifying skill and comfort gaps to build attorney confidence. • Structure and curate the practice group’s precedents, playbooks, and institutional knowledge to support that work, keeping assets organized, well-maintained, and readily usable by attorneys. • Monitor developments in AI and legal technology as well as the practice group’s substantive area, identifying opportunities to improve legal work product and client service. • Create and distribute current awareness updates that connect legal, industry, and AI developments to what they mean in practice for the practice group. • Gather and analyze usage data and attorney feedback to identify training and development opportunities, ensuring technology initiatives align with practice group priorities and firmwide objectives. • Support broader innovation projects and collaborate with international offices as needed, including flexibility to accommodate work outside standard U.S. business hours. • Mentor and provide guidance to Knowledge & Innovation Attorneys or analysts supporting the practice group(s). • Represent the practice group's AI and knowledge priorities in discussions with practice group leadership and firm management. • Set priorities for AI and knowledge initiatives within the assigned practice group(s), balancing firmwide strategy with practice-specific needs.

Job Specifications: • Juris Doctor (JD) from accredited university • At least six (6) years of practice experience and/or knowledge management experience, with substantive knowledge and practice experience directly aligned with the assigned practice • Demonstrated interest in and working familiari

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